Nine NFL franchise owners on the league's Finance Committee have forwarded Rooney's buy-out bid to all 32 clubs for a yes-or-no vote Wednesday in Irvine, Texas. If nine owners vote against the package, it dies and Rooney, 76, will remain chairman and minority shareholder of the fabled franchise, but not it's principal owner.

Currently, ownership is shared by him, four of his brothers and the relatives in the McGinley clan. Neither National Football League spokesman Greg Aiello nor the owners would say how owners on the Finance Committee voted.

Chaired by New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, the committee met for more than four hours by conference telephone call yesterday afternoon. The session previously had been scheduled for Dec. 10, but Rooney continued to work out a buy-out package expected to incur $280 million in debt for a loan arranged by PNC Financial Services.

The NFL has prodded Rooney's four brothers to sell their 64 percent cut of the team or divest from increasingly lucrative casino operations in New York and Florida. If the new restructuring is approved Wednesday, Dan Rooney and his son, club president Art Rooney II, will hold 30 percent of the shares with the rest controlled by a corral of family and outside investors.

The deal also will fix the value of the franchise at about $750 million, once business debt of about $50 million is subtracted, according to the Rooney brothers.

With the Saints' Benson, NFL's Finance Committee includes Bud Adams (Titans), Arthur Blank (Falcons), Joel Glazer (Buccaneers), Jim Irsay (Colts), Jeffrey Lurie (Eagles), Robert Kraft (Patriots), Bob McNair (Texans) and Wayne Weaver (Jaguars).